You Set It On Fire
by A-Writing-Wren
Summary: Based on a Tumblr prompt by jrm-boots. Cat has been holding back her feelings for Kara for a number of reasons, and Kara has just gone and disregarded all of them. The problem is it's not Cat she's ignoring them for.
1. Chapter 1

She hadn't even finished her first latte of the day and already Cat was ready to hurl her laptop off the balcony.

And it was all Kara's fault.

Cat had started her day on a high note. Waking up relaxed after a weekend with Carter. Getting to hear all about the upcoming science fair at Carter's school over breakfast, before taking him to school. Receiving a check in text from Adam.

Overall it had been a great morning. Things looked to be staying on a high when she arrived at work to find that Kara wearing something that showed off her arms for once, and her latte was the perfect temperature. Even hearing her schedule for the day hadn't done anything to lower her mood either. It was going to be a relatively easy day. No board meetings, no sign of her mother within a hundred miles of National City, and between the upcoming elections and the hype still surrounding the awards night from the weekend before last there was no shortage of material to be reporting on.

Once Kara had left on her first layouts run for the day Cat had turned to look at her wall of screens, hoping to catch something interesting that she could turn into a bigger better story. Or perhaps some news about her assistant had been up to this weekend as her alter ego.

This was where Cat's day had taken a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.

Kara was on one of her screens alright. Three of them actually. But not as Supergirl. No, she was on there as the beautiful mystery date of some old hag Hollywood producer.

Rather than drawing attention from the bullpen by unmuting one of the screens running to story -an unspoken signal to all within earshot that Cat had found something she deemed interesting enough to investigate- Cat had turned to her laptop.

Cat wasn't sure what made her angrier. That another station had been the first to break a story featuring _her_ assistant. Or that the original headline featured a photograph of the greying old crone kissing Kara goodnight in front of her hotel.

Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that not a single story she had read so far had cast their obvious age difference in a negative light. Or that of the few articles with journalists capable enough to identify Kara as Cat Grant's _longest suffering assistant_ , -Cat had snorted in derision at that line- none of them had suggested that Kara was just another twenty something trying to better her position in the world by seducing an older, richer, partner.

No. All any of the headlines focused on was how wonderfully inspiring it was to see two women of relative renown enjoying a first date just like any other couple. As if their date was some massive statement in the face of recent uproar about how media as a whole treated the LGBT community.

One of the articles suggested that Kara had met her _date_ at the previous weekends award show. An event the girl had only attended because Cat had demanded she be there to keep track of larger goings on while Cat mingled.

Cat may have been a little forceful with her mousepad when she closed that particular tab.

She had such a lovely start to her day and in less than fifteen minutes it had all come crashing down. Now Cat was just sitting there with half a cup of cold coffee, glaring the image of botox filled bag of winkles, pressing overly painted lips to Kara's.

How dare Kara do this to her?

The girl has the nerve to barrel into Cat's life, all sunshine and smiles, and make Cat care about her. Make her interested. Make her wanting. Make her protective. Make her forget how she ever functioned without Kara there helping. And then she goes and throws it all in Cat's face like this?

After Cat has spent so much time mentoring her. After Cat brought her out of her shell. After Cat helped her stand up for herself. After Cat kept her secret, without even being asked. After Cat stood by her when everyone else was willing to condemn her.

From the moment Cat hired Kara, from the moment she branded Supergirl, even if she didn't know it was Kara at the time, Cat had held a stake in Kara's future. She knew from the moment Kara stepped into her office for her interview that the girl would be something special, and Cat had wanted to make sure that whatever heights the girl one day soared to, people would always remember she had started at Catco.

By the time Cat had realised she was starting to have feelings for Kara it was too late. Her own stubborn pride wouldn't let her act. Whether the girl knew it or not Cat had placed Kara on a trajectory. Even if Cat hadn't been clear on the specifics she knew that with a little help from her Kara would one day go up in the world, and _nothing_ would jeopardize that on Cat's watch. Not even Cat's own feelings.

Because Cat declaring her feelings for Kara would be a massive risk. For both of them, but more so for Kara.

Cat was older, she'd played the game and now she owned the board. While a relationship with her young blonde assistant would probably cause a stir -accusations of cradle robbing, of having a midlife crisis, of being just another cliche- it would hardly ruin her career.

It would be a different story for Kara. People accusing her of being a gold digger and a whore. Always starting from a second impression because people would already have opinions on the girl screwing the most powerful person in National City who happened to be twice her age. Forever dogged by rumours that any success would achieve were because of Cat's influence and bank account rather than her own talent.

Cat might hold considerable sway over the media these days but she's not naive. If she ever acted on her desire for Kara there would be no way to keep it from ending badly for Kara. Either they would get dragged through the papers and subjected to every ridiculous fake-scandal in the book which would unavoidably affect their professional lives, or Cat would put her foot down on the stories, which would act as a massive red flag for everyone in their professional lives anyway.

So instead of embarrassing herself, and knocking Kara off of her trajectory Cat had kept her feelings to herself. Had pushed Kara towards safe, easy options. Like Adam and Olsen.

But now, without even a shred of consideration for the larger consequences Kara had burned it all to hell.

She had gone out with an older woman in a position of power.

The harpy in the picture with Kara might not be on Cat's level, but she was rather well known in the film industry and had more than a few awards for her work under her belt. For the media there was enough of a gap in their professional standing that Kara would be seen as one-sidedly gaining from their relationship.

Not to mention, of course that Cat was also reasonably sure the she-devil was a year or two older than Cat herself, and very likely having a legitimate midlife crisis. At least Cat had the benefit of having fallen for Kara over a long period of time.

The longer Cat stares at the picture the angrier she can feel herself getting. Disgust unfurling in her stomach at the thought of someone, who probably doesn't even see Kara's true worth, daring to kiss the girl.

Even as she scowls at her laptop Cat can feel the bitterness pulling at the edges of her anger.

Maybe the situation isn't exactly the same, but there is Kara on screen, with a poor man's version of Cat, and by some miracle the media hasn't done anything to tear her down.

It could have been me, is the thought that whispers in the back of her mind, with each dull throb of her heart.

"Miss Grant, here are the layouts you asked for."

Kara's bubbly voice and approaching footsteps cause Cat's gaze to snap up.

She doesn't imagine she looks all that happy. She might even go so far to say she looks intimidating if the way Kara freezes mid stride is indicative of anything.

"There you are Keira," Cat says, forcing her face into a cold smile. "Just in time to explain this."

She brings the image into full screen view and then turns the laptop to face Kara. Under other circumstances Cat might have enjoyed the bright pink that flushed Kara's face and neck.

"I- That's- I had a date last night," Kara manages to force out. "But how do you- where did you get that photo?"

Kara stumbles up to the desk doubling over to inspect the image closer up.

"Well I suppose that answers the question of what the hell were you thinking," Cat says, standing abruptly to avoid glancing at Kara's chest. "Clearly you weren't."

Kara doesn't answer immediately. She taps at the computer to remove the image. Her eyes widen comically when screen comes up with a news site rather than a file folder as where the image was opened from.

Cat can't deny the small petty flash of satisfaction at the panic in Kara's eyes. She's unknowingly or not hurt Cat's feelings, and she put her own future at risk. She deserves to panic a little at seeing some of the consequences.

"I can't believe this," the girl mutters, eyes flickering across the page, speed reading the article.

A scoff slips past Cat's lips.

"You can't believe it? How do you think I feel getting scooped on a story about _my_ assistant?"

Kara's eyes dart to meet Cat's and she draws herself into an upright posture. Shoulders hunched slightly under the weight of Cat's gaze, looking every bit like a kicked puppy.

It makes Cat want to take her hand and tell her it will all be ok. Something that is completely unacceptable. Just because Kara has completely disregarded all of the reasons for Cat's boundaries doesn't mean Cat is going to step over them. Especially since Kara chose to cross those boundaries with someone else.

"Miss Grant. I can explain, it was jus-"

"I don't want to hear it Keira," Cat cuts her off sharply. "In fact I don't want to hear anything from you until I know what direction they plan to take this whole story."

Kara opens her mouth to comment but Cat doesn't give her a chance. She can't give her a chance. Right now it's taking all of Cat's self control not to scream at the girl. Whether she'd confess her feelings or just spew insults to make Kara hurt just as much as she is, she isn't sure. Ok so she'd probably jump to insulting her, it's her go to defensive mechanism. All the more reason to stop the conversation, at least for the moment.

"I had better not hear you've been speaking to anyone else on the subject either. Just because we've been scooped doesn't mean I'll let them keep control."

Kara closes her mouth again, smart enough to realise that trying to speak isn't in her best interest.

"Now go fetch me a fresh latte, and then see how the lawsuit against the cash grabbing monkey has progressed since Lucy left."

Slowly Cat lowers herself back into her chair, keeping eye contact with Kara. Kara squirms under her gaze, clearly wanting to speak up but finally she folds.

A muttered "yes Miss Grant" barely reaches Cat's ears as Kara trudges out of the office. Cat watches her the entire time, pointedly ignoring the tightness in her chest at Kara's dejected posture.

It takes everything Cat has not to let out a sigh and slump back into her chair when Kara steps out of view. Not just because of how it would look to those morons in the bullpen, but because Kara would probably hear her with those damnable super-senses.

Instead she turns her laptop back to face her and scowls at the news article and picture for another few moments before closing the tab and opening her emails. Unsurprisingly a number of them are enquiries as to whether or not the _girl_ in the photo really is her assistant.

Taking a long steadying breath Cat unfolds one of the pairs of glasses on her desk and presses them to her face.

She'd had such a promising start to her day, now all she wants is to get this day over with. And maybe a glass of M&Ms.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara had been having a pretty great morning. How could it have been anything but on a day when Cat had all but floated out of her elevator? She hadn't even insulted her coffee! And it was the same today as it had been almost every other day Kara had bought it to her in the past two and a half years.

Her day had already been going pretty well before she'd come into work, but that had been the cherry on top.

She had woken up before her alarm, feeling energised. Which probably had something to do with how delightfully normal her weekend had been.

As Supergirl her weekend had been a quiet one. None of the situations she had helped out with had been of the life threatening, city destroying kind. Just the help kittens out of trees and shut up a few bullies kind.

As Kara Danvers it had been similarly relaxed. There were no calls from Cat demanding something be ready for Monday. Not that she'd been expecting one, knowing Carter was going to be his mother for the weekend. She'd finally had a chance to get into some painting. She'd even had a chance to go out on a date. Her first since Adam had left town and Cat had started treating her- well not normally, she was far too fascinated in Kara's perceived interest in James for her behaviour to fall under normal, but certainly closer to normal than she had been.

The date itself had been nice. Perhaps not as amazing as she'd pictured in her head, but certainly one of the better dates Kara had ever been on. She was fully prepared to admit that the reason the date could only be called nice, rather than some other more colourful adjective, was entirely her fault.

Kayleen was the kind of woman who commanded attention when she entered a space. It was in the way she stood, like she could make whatever she was wearing into a designer style. It was in the way she spoke to people, hands moving animatedly, with a wide smile drawing you in. Making you want to hear what she was talking about so passionately.

And she always seemed to speak passionately. No matter the subject. She had an opinion and she would make sure her side of the story was heard, but she was never overbearing. Always quick with a witty remark to keep things moving.

There was something about it all that reminded Kara of how Cat could get when the rest of the office had gone home. After the work they'd stayed behind to complete had started to dwindle, and the decanter of whiskey on the bar had similarly decreased in volume. There was a difference in that Kayleen smiled more. Not that Cat didn't smile. Just that it would never get quite as wide as Kayleen's unless she was talking about Carter.

There were in fact a number of similarities between Kayleen and Cat beyond that way of talking.

None of which had crossed Kara's mind when they had first met at the awards show. Nor had they surfaced during the week, as they had exchanged a few brief but playful text messages. No. It wasn't until after Kara had accepted Kayleen's dinner invitation that Kara had started to consider the similarities.

She had been thinking about what to wear, wishing she could call Alex to help her, when it had crossed her mind that Kayleen, like Cat, had a taste for fashion. Both of them always dressed to impress. A by-product of their positions Kara supposed. They were both considered high-flyers in the media.

It made choosing an outfit easier. Narrowing down her options to outfits that would meet Cat's approval for work functions. Then eliminating the darker shades of blue, and a single red dress, to avoid colouring that looked too much like Supergirl.

In the end she chose shoulderless black number with a floral print that cut off just above her knee. Something that Alex had no doubt slipped onto her hanger without her noticing, because it wasn't quite the kind of thing she would bought herself. It left just a little bit more skin showing than Kara usually preferred. But otherwise it was close enough to her normal style that she didn't feel like something she wasn't when she was wearing it. And it was for a date. A little extra skin wouldn't be the worst thing.

The problem was that once she consciously compared Kayleen to Cat she had started to notice other things as well.

Things like Kayleen had been wearing the same perfume Cat would wear to the office.

And that the restaurant Kayleen had chosen was one of the few Cat would use for her first dates, depending on who she was with, and how much she wanted to impress or intimidate them. Kara knew because she had, had to make reservations in Cat's name for a number of them.

This particular one was used more for dates Cat wanted to make feel impressed but comfortable in. Kara couldn't escape the idea that Kayleen had chosen it for a similar purpose.

There was the way both women seemed to enjoy their meat rare. The way they held their knives. The way they looked so intently at Kara when she spoke. Though Kayleen's eyes didn't hold the added weight of shared experiences and shared knowledge.

On top of all that was the fact that Kayleen also had two children. Her prides and joy. A twenty one year old off at university in England and a seventeen year old that split their time between staying with Kayleen and staying with her ex-husband.

Which had just been another reminder of the fact that Kayleen was much closer to Cat's age than Kara's. Possibly even older. Kayleen was a beautiful woman but her face showed more signs of age than Cat's. The lines around her eyes a little deeper, and a few silvery strands peeking out amongst her dark locks.

When Kayleen had ordered a martini to the exact same specifications as Cat it had been the final strike to ignite the spark of realisation.

Kara wasn't there because she wanted to be with Kayleen. She was there because she wanted to be with Cat.

It had only been the fact that banging her head on the table would come out worse for the table than it would for her that stopped Kara from doing exactly that. She had thought she was finally getting over her innocent little crush on Cat. James had started to look almost as appealing as Cat had been making him out to be. Then Kayleen had shown up. A version of Cat didn't have the obstacle of a boss/employee relationship. A version of Cat that wanted to take Kara on a date.

Kara really should have just stuck to the plan of making a move on James.

Before that moment in the restaurant Kara would have characterized her crush as little more than being inspired by the other womans success, and enraptured by her confidence. But afterwards, when she had found herself faced with someone of comparable success, and confidence, it had become clear. Her crush had a lot more to do with Cat being Cat, than it had to do with Cat being Miss Grant, Queen Of All Media.

If Kayleen had noticed the way Kara became less and less engaged over the course of their date she was kind enough not to say anything about it.

At the end of the night Kara had walked Kayleen back to her hotel, which was only the next block over from the restaurant, and made a show of hailing a cab to take her home to keep Kayleen from fussing about a young woman walking alone through the city at night. Just as a cab pulled up Kayleen had pulled Kara close and kissed her, chastely on the lips. That she had been caught by surprised and maneuvered so easily by a human, clued Kara into just how preoccupied she'd been behaving.

"I just wanted to try it once before you went after whoever it is that's gotten in that pretty head of yours." Was what Kayleen had said smirking over her shoulder before she had entered the lobby of her hotel. Leaving Kara standing on the street gaping.

The cabbie had honked his horn to hurry her along after a few moments. Shock was the only reason Kara got into the cab and told the driver her address. She'd heard him mutter testily about getting space-cadet fare but hadn't had anything to say in her own defence.

Kara had gone to bed that night with her head spinning with thoughts of Cat.

Things like that little wiggle she did when Kara had read her own article to her. Things like how she would put on two pairs of glasses when she got involved in her writing. Things like how she'd talk to herself in her elevator.

Eventually Kara had fallen asleep imagining what differences there might have been if the kiss that evening had come from Cat instead of Kayleen.

Just accepting the fact that she had fallen for Cat had taken so much weight off of Kara's shoulders. Sure it opened up a whole new world of questions and troubles. The gaps in their age and in their social standing. Whether or not Cat even liked Kara. Whether or not she could make a move to find out without getting fired. But when Cat had stepped out of the elevator that morning, with that rare glimpse of softness in her eyes and a spring in her step, none of those things had mattered. It was just nice to be able to bask in the warmth without trying to make herself feel bad for it.

When she had returned to the office after stepping out to get the layouts Cat had requested, (not snappily demanded but actually requested!) and been faced with the same look Cat usually wore right before she fired an entire department Kara froze.

Or rather she had seized up. With one glare Cat managed to make it feel as if Kara's chest was being compressed by a kryptonite vice and the sensation brought her to a grinding halt. Before she could gather herself to ask what was wrong Cat had turned her laptop to face Kara and her entire focus had become the somewhat grainy picture of Kayleen kissing Kara in front of her hotel.

Kara's brain short circuited. Words exited her mouth without her permission and Cat stopped them for her with words of her own. Cold, hard, angry words by the tone but none of them quite filtered through. Not when Kara's still rebooting brain was occupied with the words floating tauntingly on the screen that appeared when Kara tried to banish the image.

"You can't believe it? How do you think I feel getting scooped on a story about _my_ assistant?"

Finally Cat's words broke through the filter becoming more than just tone and noise, but they sounded wrong. Like Cat wanted to be saying something else. She was glaring at Kara in a way that was more menacing than she did when Adam left because she got scooped? It just didn't feel right.

The story was the kind that would fizzle out the moment Kim Kardashian made some eye-roller of a post on social media. Getting scooped on it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Particularly when Cat is no doubt fully aware that she controls any exclusive Kara might give on the matter, and therefore holds the trump card. So why would she be angry?

Could it be because Cat has been putting so much effort into pushing her towards James and Kara disregarded it and went out with someone else? That might make sense if Kara could understand why Cat had so determinedly pushing her towards James to begin with. Really why would she be angry? Or perhaps hurt would be the better word. Cat almost always hides behind anger when she's hurt. But why would it hurt Cat to see her go out with someone? Unless. Unless maybe Cat _cared_ for Kara. More than as just her assistant.

Her eyes flickered to Cat's and by Rao she wished she could have drawn on some of that Supergirl bravado because the power behind that stare has her shrinking in on herself. Kara isn't sure she could have stood up to that look even in full Supergirl regalia.

She just barely managed to keep her composure enough to try and explain. To try and defend herself. Once again Cat had silenced her by speaking instead. Suddenly Kara was being dismissed from the office. Work being demanded not requested. She barely ground out a "yes Miss Grant" before she left the office to do as she had been told.

Rationally Kara knew the events that had occurred that had turned her morning upside down. That didn't mean she understood why.

Ok so she'd been on a date last night. Ok some jerk with a camera had managed to get a shot of the end of the date and figured it was news worthy. Ok if Kara went on a newsworthy date Cat clearly would have liked to know about it. All of those facts were clear but to Kara none of those things felt like they should have added to the response she had just endured. Not unless she was missing something on Cat's side of the equation.

"Hey Supergirl we could use a hand over here, are you free or are you busy sweeping a woman off her feet?"

Lucy's teasing voice in her ear piece is simultaneously a welcome distraction and a brand new torture. Of course Lucy has seen the news about her date. Her course changes from the elevator to the ground floor and coffee, to the staircase and her super-changing-spot.

"It was one date Luce, we're not having a second so just leave it alone and tell me what you need a hand with."

There is a brief moment where all Kara can hear is the subtle crackling of the open line and then.

"WHAT DATE?!"

Kara is really glad she's already entered the stairwell because she can't help the full bodied cringe at the high pitched squeal Lucy just made, directly into her ear.

"What do you mean what date, it's all over the news" she grouses. She shakes her head in the half hope it will help clear the ringing in her readjusting ears.

"You took Cat on a date," Lucy asks, just barely bringing her pitch down to an acceptable level for talking on a comm system.

"WHAT?!" Kara almost falls over pulling on her Supergirl boots. "Of course not, on what planet would Cat Grant go out with me?"

"Uh this one." Kara shakes her head disbelievingly. "Hang on if you weren't out with Cat who were you out with?"

"Maybe we can discuss this _after_ Supergirl catches the alien gorilla wreaking havoc at the docks," Vasquez cuts in dryly.

"Right, right, just make sure I remember to get Cat a latte later, she's already mad enough about my date, if I come back without her coffee she might eviscerate me."

"I want to hear all about this date of yours, and when you switched from Miss Grant to Cat," Lucy says her voice slipping into her more serious Major Lane tone. "But about this gorilla. We think it's targeting a cargo ship arriving from Australia. No word yet on the cargo."

"I'm arriving at the docks now. I can see the target. I guess this will be a quick one."


	3. Chapter 3

Cat's morning had not gotten better after she banished Kara to fetch coffee and wrangle lawyers.

First Derek had come rushing in, blathering on about some community fluff piece or another that Cat had vetoed the day before, that had supposedly developed into something news worthy. Fortunately for him what he lacked in common-sense he made up for on writing ability, or Cat would have fired him a long time ago.

Almost as soon as she had sent Derek running (very nearly literally) from her office, James had walked in with the morning layouts and some excuse about Kara being tied up trying to get information out of legal.

That had been the final push of motivation to make Cat stride over to the bar. Her hand drifted dangerously close to the decanter of whiskey before scooping up a glass of M&M's. She had, after all, promised Carter that she would never drink before lunch.

On the walk back to her desk Cat paused to watch her multitude of screens, searching for Supergirl. When it came down to it, there was no other reason that she would still be waiting on a fresh latte, and be having her layouts delivered by her art director, if Supergirl wasn't off saving the day somewhere. If Cat hadn't figured Kara to be Supergirl neither the excuses, nor her absence, would have resulted in Kara's continued employment.

Of course they were still excellent grounds to end Kara's employment at any time. All the same, the lengths the hero had gone to with the double-act, had been enough to convince Cat that Kara really did feel as if she needed her job. Her claims that it helped ground her were far more convincing than her insistence on not being a hero.

After some consideration Cat had decided that her original instinct to fire the girl had been misguided. A mentally stable hero doing what they could manage, would be far more helpful long term, than a full time hero constantly at risk of crumbling under the pressure. As such she allowed Kara her secret, and turned the other way whenever the girl had to disappear to save the day.

She even pretended to buy whatever ludicrous excuse her friends came up with whenever Kara was missing too long to be reasonably ignored.

In what might have been the only bright spot in her morning since seeing that photo, Cat discovered the story of Supergirl's latest feat was being broadcasted on the local Catco channel. The news being brought to the public by the Catco traffic-copter that had been scheduled to report on the coastal highway today. Instead of the highway it was hovering above the city docks halfway to its original destination. The camera was trained on Supergirl fighting what looked to be a mottled yellow version of King Kong.

Cat felt her heart leap to her throat as Supergirl took a hit that sent her, and a solid chunk of the docks surface, flying into the water. She swallowed it back down with a mouthful of M&M's a moment later when Supergirl shot from the water and rammed Wannabe-Kong into the side of shipping container.

As usual knowing Supergirl was almost indestructible did very little to ease Cat's instinct to worry; especially when she habitually faced off against foes just as extraordinary as Supergirl herself.

She hated just how much she worried. She hated that she couldn't show it. She hated that she had to be so careful about making sure Kara was okay after a fight, because she couldn't let Kara know that she knew about Supergirl. That it was mostly Cat's own fault Kara so determinedly kept lying to her didn't escape Cat, but that didn't mean it didn't annoy her.

Worrying about Kara when she was out performing Supergirl duties was a slippery slope. One that could result in Cat treating 'Keira' with kid gloves when she returned to the office if she wasn't careful. From there Catco would crumble as people realised that the ice hearted Queen Of All Media was actually a soft hearted fool.

This was the reasoning Cat used as she forced herself to stop watching the fight, and sit back down at her computer. Derek had interrupted her before she could check her emails earlier. She wanted to make sure she wasn't missing anything important before she got to work on the morning layouts.

It was very easy not to be worried, when she found she had twenty-two emails regarding Kara's date. Each one a reminder of how mad she was. At Kara, at Kayleen, and above all at herself.

Nine of them didn't even mention Kara by name. They were much more interested in how much Cat and _Kayleen_ must have been interacting, in order for Kara and Kayleen to spend enough time together to arrange a date. Most of them boiled down to whether or not Cat would be pushing advertisement for whatever Kayleen's next big project would be.

Seven of them were generic requests for confirmation regarding Kara's identity. Half of them also asked if Cat had known her assistant was gay before now.

Three of them started by asking if Cat thought Kayleen and Kara going on a public date would mean an increase in queer representation in the movies from Kayleen's production company. They'd end by asking Cat would be increasing the amount of coverage on LGBT stories now that the subject was a little closer to home. These endings made her scoff. If only they knew.

Two of them were from over ambitious reporters, looking to see if there was anything other than the age gap that could be used to make Kara's date seem like a scandal. These two were almost immediately deleted, but not before the addresses that had sent them were added to Cat's spam filter.

Finally she had an email from human resources alerting her that one of her employees had been involved in a national headline. It was something Cat liked to keep on top of. Praising those involved in fluff pieces and firing those who got mentioned in scandals. Not that either happened often.

Not a single email seemed interested in Cat's perspective on _her_ Kara being taken out. Not one of them suggested that Catco had somehow missed a story in not being the first to report the event. Which was exactly as it should be.

Because Kara wasn't hers. Because Catco wasn't TMZ. The people sending Cat emails knew that. Cat knew that, and still she had hidden behind both as excuses to rage at Kara. All to hide her jealousy. It was just another reason on the list of why Cat had no right to even daydream about a future with the young hero.

Kara was the personification of hope, and youth, and vitality. The first rays of sunlight after a storm. She was a reminder to all that met her that good still existed in the world.

Comparatively Cat was just an embittered old crone. The chilling breeze that reminded everyone of the wreckage the storm had left in its wake. The reminder that no matter how much good was out there, the world was still a hard place.

A tentative tap on her office door dragged Cat from her thoughts. For a very brief instant Cat expected to see Kara, shuffling her feet by the door, unsure whether or not she'd be granted entrance after her previous dismissal. Even before her eyes fell on Winn she banished the idea. Kara had stopped being that unsure years ago. She had figured out far faster than any of Cat's previous assistants that it was better to just dive straight into whatever task that happened to be at hand than to just hover by the door, waiting for Cat's mood to lessen.

When Winn saw that he had his boss's attention he raised a latte before himself as if it were a shield. She noticed the way he eyed her glass of candy, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. Cat just raised an eyebrow and waited for him to get on with it.

"K-Kara," he paused to clear his throat, "Kara asked me to run and get your latte. She said something about a misplaced file down in legal needing to be reprinted, and a broken toner cartridge." He approached her desk warily as he spoke, no doubt acutely aware of Cat's still raised eyebrow. Before it was a signal to address her, now it was a challenge, asking whether or not that was really the story he was going to go with.

Kara's inability to tell a convincing lie under pressure was endearing. Her friends see through but relatively well delivered lies were less so. Which explained the flash of satisfaction Cat felt when Winn almost knocked her latte over trying to place it in her reach without getting close to her.

Clearing his throat again Winn continued, apparently deciding to stick with his deception, without embroidering it.

"She also asked me to make sure you took your morning Lexapro."

Cat felt her other eyebrow raise to match its peer in surprise. Surprise but not anger. Had he been passing on the message from anyone else Cat would have assumed a liberal dose of sarcasm and insubordination had been implied. But from Kara the words rang with genuine concern.

"I would have brought along with your latte but I don't actually know where it's kept and-" Winn rushed to explain but Cat cut him off sharply.

"That will be all Wilk."

Winn's jaw snapped shut instantly.

"Now go find out why every printer in my building seems to keep developing these absurd faults whenever I'm in need of my assistant." He slowly began to nod, his mouth opening to issue some kind of assurance. Cat decided to once again cut him off.

"If the problem isn't fixed by the end of the week I'm going to start firing members of the IT department." For the second time since entering her office Winn's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. "After all they are clearly doing an abominable job of maintaining office equipment."

Winn squeaked out an affirmative, and then scurried from her office so fast that Cat was a little concerned the friction from his polyester blend monstrosity would cause him to combust. She wasn't at all surprised when he made a beeline straight for James Olsen's office.

The sight was almost enough to bring a smile to her face. It was probably wrong to threaten the employees of the IT department with being fired just because Kara's friends were bad liars, but honestly. How many times could she be expected to buy the same excuse every week?

Her almost smile faded when she opened the draw to her desk and looked at her prescription bottle. She had become a lot more consistent in taking the medication since Kara had become her assistant. At first Kara had stuck to the offer she had made during her interview, simply fetching the prescription refills as required. Which meant Cat would still regularly forget to take her pill, too absorbed in her work to notice, or that she would occasionally take two within a few short hours. Usually because of a surprise visit from her mother, or phone call from the board of directors.

Kara had obviously noticed the irregular amounts of time between each refill because within a few months a new notification appeared on Cat's phone. A daily reminder at 10:15 for Cat to take her prescription. Most of the time it was the only reminder Cat needed, but on the rare occasions that work kept her too focused, Kara would interrupt her, at great personal risk, with a fresh latte and a single pill in a small glass dish.

Almost as if on cue her phone buzzed, lighting up with the time displayed in big numbers but no note to say what the reminder was for. A stark change from the first time the notification had come up. Kara had almost been fired that day, just at the beginning of her fourth month, when LEXAPRO and an abundance of smiling emojis had filled the screen of Cat's phone as she tried to type out a text to Carter. It was sheer shock that the girl had made such a bold move for the sake of Cat's well-being that had spared her. Instead of firing Kara Cat had simply changed the notification to something more discreet. That should probably have been Cat's first indication of just how hard she was falling for the girl.

A quick tap silenced the reminder and Cat shook a Lexapro into her palm. Even off fighting a giant space ape, after Cat had been a grade A bitch, Kara was still looking out for Cat's health.

She took the pill, washing it down with a mouthful of coffee, grimacing at the lukewarm temperature. She'd gotten used to her lattes being near scolding since Kara had started up as Supergirl. The idea of having her coffee heated up by laser had been uncomfortable at first, but she was more than certain that Kara wouldn't ever dare do it if it would cause a risk to Cat.

With one last mouthful of cold coffee Cat dropped the drink into the bin by her desk and turned her focus back to her computer. She had emails to respond to and layouts that needed revising before lunch.

And when Kara finally made it back from her extracurricular activities she should probably see about apologising to the girl.


	4. Chapter 4

As it turned out the only reason, the giant space version of Donkey Kong had targeted the ship from Australia, was the convenience of a large ship near the direction it had approached the docks from. That and it's apparent desire to destroy pretty much anything in its general vicinity.

It would have been much easier to find a weakness to exploit if it had actually had a clear objective. Or a species designation.

Kara could have sworn she actually heard Vasquez curse under her breath at how long it was taking to comb through the database. She couldn't be sure though, since she found herself rocketing into the water a half second later. Whatever it was it was faster than it looked.

Without anything to go on, Kara spent the better part of an hour getting slammed into concrete and catching whatever heavy object her opponent found to throw at nearby civilians who stopped to watch the battle. While it was nice to be trusted by the city again, her life would be a lot easier if people actually got out of the way without prompting when she was fighting. Instead of stopping to spectate with the assumption she'd keep them safe regardless, like some dock workers. Or without drifting closer to the danger in the hopes of a better angle, as was the case twice with the traffic-copter.

If she was honest just having the thing near her as she fought made her nervous. Leslie might be locked up, and it might be a sunny day, but really, Kara did not have the greatest track record with helicopters in range of her conflicts.

Finally after what felt like forever the DEO set up an empty container for Kara to corral the hulking yellow beast into. Something easier than done when she had to keep out of the way of the tranquilizer darts the agents were trying to pepper the alien with. It didn't help that any time a dart hit it would try to charge at the agents instead of focusing on Kara as per the plan.

Eventually after approximately twelve tranquilizers and several bursts of heat vision to keep its attention firmly on Kara, they slammed the doors of the container shut. There were a few half hearted blows to the doors as the creature tried to escape but finally the sedatives seemed to take effect. A quick peek with x-ray vision confirmed as much. Kara offered a quick nod to one of the agents and then stood by as the DEO went about reinforcing the door and loading the container onto a truck for transport.

"Hey Supergirl, mind escorting that thing back to base?" Lucy asked over the comms, her tone all Major Lane. "I'm a little concerned it won't stay down for long. Plus you still need to tell me about your date."

The last statement switched from Major Lane to Regular Lucy so easily that it was actually kind of nice to hear. She was used to listening to Alex switching between Agent Mode and Sister Mode just as easily, she missed it.

"I'll be there Luce," she replied. The trucks brakes groaned as they released signalling that it was time to go. Kara flew a few feet above and behind the trailer so that she could keep an eye on the doors to the container. "But I want a shower in the barracks before you interrogate me, I feel like there is more salt in my hair than in the harbour right now."

Lucy laughed but didn't comment. Which was fine by Kara. She was actually a little exhausted after all of the fighting she had just done. Not many of her fights dragged out for so long. The oversized ape had speed, strength, and stamina, that while not quite on Kara's level, certainly beat out the average Fort Rozz escapee. It's toughness had been its most formidable attribute, absorbing the impact of her blows with little reaction beyond annoyance.

It was probably the kind of thing she should be worried about, but after getting chewed out by Cat, it had felt good to just punch something. Whatever had gotten Cat's panties in a twist, because it definitely hadn't been getting scooped on Kara's date, had Cat frustrated enough to take it out on Kara. Which in turn frustrated Kara, because how the hell was she supposed to fix the problem if she didn't know what the problem was?

That train of thought didn't end in a solution but in a reminder. Cat.

Kara had left Catco at least an hour ago. She was supposed to be fetching coffee and information from legal. Not to mention the first round of layouts were probably late, and with how angry Cat had seemed when she left, there was a good chance the woman would be too busy yelling at someone about the lack of coffee and layouts to pay attention to her Lexapro reminder.

She whipped out her phone and called Winn, almost dropping the device onto the freeway below her in her haste.

"Hey, Kara I just saw the footage of the fight, very cool. Toby Collier didn't sound too impressed when he explained the government had radioed the chopper saying not to follow the truck though."

"Winn," Kara said quickly, as he paused for breath. She has no doubt he'd continue if she didn't and she was already behind on time. "I need some help."

"That's what I'm here for, whataya need?" Kara let out a small sigh of relief at the instant reply.

"It's Miss Grant," she began.

"Oh, James already dropped off the morning layouts," Winn cut her off quickly. She could hear the discomfort in his voice at the idea he might have to interact directly with Cat.

"That's great, but I was supposed to bring her a latte and an update from legal about the lawsuit against that guy. You know, who went for a cash grab at Vanity Fair?" She could practically see Winn slumping in his chair at her words. "Also I need you to remind Miss Grant about her Lexapro."

She could hear Winn's office chair clatter in protest at how quickly he sat up straight.

"Whoa, whoa, coffee I can do. Telling her the stuff with legal is taking a while? Sure. But reminding her to take her medication?" His voice was high when he paused for breath. A combination of the semi-rhetorical question and his nerves. "That's like a personal thing, if I remind her she'll probably fire me on the spot!"

"Just tell her that I asked you to remind her," Kara said patiently. "It'll be fine, she already knows you're trustworthy after the whole Dirk Armstrong takeover thing."

How much Cat might trust Winn Kara wasn't actually sure. At the very least she probably thought he was too terrified of her to try and make a move against her. It helped that she was more confident in Cat's trust in her. So long as Winn mentioned the message came from her that trust would hopefully extend far enough to keep Winn employed.

"Look I have to go make sure this alien gets put in containment without causing trouble, just take her a latte and remind her about the Lexapro and I'll pick you up some Red Vines on my way back to the office," she said as below her the truck took the turn from the main road into the desert. "Thanks Winn."

She hung up before he could respond.

Processing of the yellow space ape went quickly. Everyone worked at maximum efficiency to make sure the creature was secured before it woke up. Soon enough Kara was in the otherwise deserted locker room, under the hot spray of the shower.

She had been elated to find that Alex's locker still held her sister's belongings, and most importantly her shampoo. When she was getting Winn's Red Vines she would have to get some gummy bears for Vasquez as a thank you. She was reasonably sure it was Vasquez's doing that her sister's locker had remained untouched.

The artificial scent of apples tickled Kara's nose as she massaged the shampoo into her scalp, bringing Alex to the forefront of her mind. The scent of apples and machine oil, blended with something uniquely Alex, that Kara would breath in whenever she hugged her. Warm reassuring hugs. Hugs where Alex would squeeze harder than she would for a normal person just to be sure Kara would feel it. Making her feel safe, giving her a place where she could be scared, and insecure, instead of the invincible girl of steel. By Rao she could use one of those hugs today. She'd settle for the tone of fond exasperation and concern she would receive upon telling Alex about Cat's sudden mood swing.

Shutting off the water, eyes still closed against the excess running down her face, Kara reached for her towel. She could have sworn she left it hanging from the curtainless curtain rail behind her. When her hand only connects with air she frowns. Quickly wiping at the water in her eyes she reaches again. This time her hand meets with slightly coarse fabric of DEO standard towels but something isn't quite right.

"Damn Supergirl, you really should consider wearing less cardigans at Catco. Cat would be so busy staring at you she'd forget to yell."

Lucy handed Kara her towel, and dipped her a wink. Kara felt a blush blossom over her whole body. A burst of super speed later and she stood by Alex's locker fully suited up, her cape wrapped around her protectively.

"Well, forget to yell as much," Lucy amended, as she turned to face Kara. A slight smirk her only other reaction to Kara's fluster. "Now speaking of Cat yelling. How bad did she react to finding out about your date with the movie producer?"

Kara stared for a few moments, silently mouthing Lucy's own words to try and process them, as she recovered from her shock. Modesty, respect, and a touch of elitism had resulted in Kryptonian fashion and attitudes towards nudity being rather conservative. The comfort the human race seemed to have with being naked or almost naked around one another was one of the few cultural differences that could still trip Kara up after twelve years.

"Ka-ra," Lucy sing-songed. "You tell me about Cat and I'll tell you about the big yellow guy."

"You'd tell me that anyway," Kara said, finally shaking herself into the present.

Lucy tilted her head to the side and folded her arms, prepared to wait Kara out for the information. Kara heaved a sigh in return.

"It was awful Luce, when she got to work she was so happy and then I came back from arranging her schedule it was like I'd dumped Adam all over again." Kara ran a hand through her hair. "I don't even know what she's angry about."

"She didn't tell you?" Lucy asked. "Normally she's pretty direct about telling people what she thinks they've done wrong, in painful detail."

"Oh she gave me a reason," Kara said, dropping herself onto the bench between the lockers. "She said she was angry about getting scooped on a story featuring one of her employees."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Like hell that's the reason," she said, walking over to join Kara on the bench. "It's really not fair that she's taking her jealousy out on you."

Kara felt her breath stutter in her chest, her shoulders tensed. Kara had thought about the idea that Cat might care for her, that Cat might be protective of her. She hadn't actually allowed herself to think of Cat's behaviour as jealousy. Acknowledging that possibility Cat liked her enough to be jealous was dangerous. Kara was all about hope, but she understood, better than most people realised, how painful it could be to get your hopes up and then have them dashed. Noticing the reaction Lucy rolled her eyes again.

"Why else would she be _that_ angry Kar?" There was a hint of teasing exasperation in Lucy's voice as she asked her question. As if she knew Kara wouldn't be able to come up with another answer, and it amused her.

Lucy was right. She couldn't. At least not one that explained the sheer amount of anger Kara had faced. She could list off dozens of reasons why her date might have in some way annoyed Cat, but none of them, even when combined, totalled up to the reaction she had received when she had walked back into Cat's office. The dangerous spark of hope Kara had been ignoring, started to burn a little brighter in her chest.

She immediately tried to dim it again. Even if Cat did like her she couldn't have a relationship with her. It wouldn't be fair to Cat. She'd either ruin it by keeping her secret, or she'd endanger Cat by telling her. Just telling Cat she's been Supergirl this whole time would probably be enough to end a possible relationship before it began. Kara had lied repeatedly about not being Supergirl. Cat didn't tolerate liars.

However badly Cat's jealousy might have made her lash out it would be nothing compared to the anger Kara would face if she turned around and revealed herself as Supergirl after all this time. Just imagining it made her shoulders curl in on themselves.

"I swear you two are hopeless," Lucy said, with a shake of her head. "I saw the way you dance around one another while I was at Catco. You both swing between lovestruck teenagers and old married couple so quickly I thought I'd get whiplash if I hung around your floor too long."

Kara felt her cheeks go hot. She had never really considered what her dynamic with Cat might look like to an outsider before. Even she knew she could be a little, well, imperceptive when it came to how others behaved around her. Alex pointed it out whenever she managed to drag Kara to a bar. But even she knew that her relationship with Cat wasn't quite a normal boss/assistant relationship, or a normal mentor/mentee relationship.

Normally it was something she'd ignore. Or brush off by talking about how inspirational Cat can be. Normally didn't really apply any more. Not after last night's realization, or Cat's ire, or Lucy's knowing smirk.

"Enough about Cat's feelings for a minute," Lucy said, shifting to fully face Kara. "What about you?"

Kara opened her mouth, the denial she had trained herself to give racing to the tip of her tongue. Then the image of Cat gliding out of her elevator that morning crossed her mind, and a smile came unbidden to her lips.

"I love her Lucy."

Lucy's jaw dropped almost imperceptibly. Kara got the feeling that she had expected to need to drag it out of her. Surprise quickly gave way to a broad, and playful grin.

"Then fly off and tell her that Supergirl," Lucy said, grabbing Kara's hands excitedly. "What are you waiting on?"

"I- She- That is- She's my boss, Lucy," Kara said.

She stood up, because Lucy was tugging at her hands, and looked more than ready to throw her whole body weight into it if Kara didn't comply. Not that Lucy's full body weight could have moved her, but she didn't want her friend to hurt herself trying.

"And as your boss's former General Counsel I am qualified to tell you that all you two would need to do is report your dating status to human resources, and allow the board to make final decisions about any raises or promotions you might earn while working at Catco," Lucy said, practically bouncing.

"Dating status? No way would Cat Grant _date_ Kara Danvers. I'm in love with her sure, that doesn't mean she loves me back."

Lucy groaned theatrically.

"Yeah, she just unlocked your tragic orphan backstory on a whim, memorized your coffee order, _bought_ you that coffee order, _and_ remembered to add an extra sprinkle of cinnamon after it had been made. Oh and remember that thing where she was totally jealous about you having a date last night?"

Kara had to admit it did all sound very compelling when Lucy put it like that. She bit her lip uncertainly.

"If I tell you how many times I caught her checking you out, will you finally put on your big girl cape and go tell her how you feel?" Lucy asked, with a cheeky grin and a head tilt.

"No. Maybe? Give me a ballpark answer."

Kara could feel her resolve teetering on the edge. It was entirely absurd, but Lucy sounded so confident, and she wanted so badly to believe that Cat might like her. She might know how dangerous hope could be, but it was still one of her guiding forces in life.

"Well into the double digits Kar, like every time I was on your floor I would catch her at least twice." Lucy started digging into the pockets of her cargo pants, and pulled out her phone with a flourish. "Here I even have photographic evidence."

With a few quick swipes Lucy opened photo album of candid shots, most of which were taken in Cat's office. They were clearly taken in secret if the corners of manilla folders, and folds of fabric cutting into some of the pictures meant anything. Lucy tapped on one of the clearer ones, and yes, it very much looked like Cat was watching Kara's ass as she left the office. Kara could feel her cheeks growing hot, yet again.

She needed to go talk to Cat. Immediately.

"So, convinced yet?" Lucy asked, slipping her phone back into her pocket.

Kara nodded. Lucy looked delighted.

"Then why are you still here, get going Supergirl!"

"Oh I'm going," Kara said, using a bit of superspeed to move over to the door. She stopped and waited for Lucy to turn and look after her. When she did Kara continued. "And when I get back you're deleting those pictures."

Lucy pouted and stuck out her tongue but nodded a moment later. Kara nodded again in return, to say she'd seen the agreement, and then she was off.

Kara was pretty sure she'd have to listen to Lucy gleefully recount the sonic boom she left in her wake sometime in her future, but for now, all that mattered was that she got to Cat as soon as possible.

They had a lot to talk about.


End file.
